No Matter, No Distance, It's the Ride
by lizook
Summary: "This is our road trip; I don't want to waste any of it."


**Spoilers/Timeline**: None/Set in future

**A/N**: Many thanks to **K. Elisabeth** for the brainstorming help and **Cupcakebean** for the look over.

**Disclaimer**: Bones still isn't mine. Title found in CSN's _Thoroughfare Gap_.

* * *

"Never again." She rubbed her neck, head falling back against the headrest.

"What?"

"That hotel last night... we're never staying at that chain again." Slowly rolling her head to the side, she sighed. "I should have known when it had 'motel' in its name."

"Don't look at me, Bones. Becca said it was the most convenient given how far we wanted to drive last night. Ya know, actually got us out of Boston, but-"

"I wouldn't have had a problem with staying in the city overnight. Especially if it had prevented the pain I'm experiencing between C1 and C7."

"I know, but then Becca's parents would have wanted us to spend today with all of them and..." He glanced at her, smiling as he quickly turned the wheel left causing her to clutch the door handle. "This is _our_ road trip; I don't want to waste any of it."

"But... it's just like the trip up to drop Parker off."

"No, it's not. There's no rush to get Parker there before five pm tomorrow, no having to play a game or crazy music to keep him entertained... we can actually stop and look at the scenery, take a detour if we want."

"Ok."

"Ok?"

"I understand that you're treating the trip back to D.C. as a sort of vacation for us and..." She leaned over the console, running her fingers through his short hair before leaning back in her seat on the other side of the cab. "I find I'm quite pleased by the prospect."

"Oh yeah?" He grinned, raising an eyebrow at her. If there was one thing that had become even more apparent to him in the two years he'd spent waking up beside her it was that, even in the midst of summer, Temperance Brennan wasn't one to voluntarily relax, slow things down.

"Yes, though I still find it incomprehensible that you wouldn't just allow Parker to fly to Boston on his own. He's certainly old enough and all this driving increases-"

"I'm not going to just dump my kid on some plane no matter how old he is. Besides..." He turned off the highway, the cooler in the bed of the truck slamming against the side as they started on a more scenic route. "Who was the one so concerned that _I'd _be making the trip back alone?

"I don't see how that's relevant. The distance is considerable, which increases the risk for driver fatigue and inattention to the road. It's dangerous."

"You were concerned."

"Of course, it's only natural that I'd feel some trepidation and seek to appease that in any way possible. In this case I utilized some of what Angela calls my 'massive block' of vacation days."

"Mmm, we're gonna _utilize_ those as much as possible, baby." He waggled his eyebrows, dimples appearing as she shook her head and smiled in spite of the term of endearment. "But see, it's the same thing: I was worried about Parker flying alone and you were worried about me driving alone."

"I suppose that is an accurate comparison."

"Ye- wait, I outlogiced you that fast?"

"Outlogiced is not a word, Booth. But, yes, you can be very convincing when you want to be. Besides, it's not like this is the first disagreement you've won."

"I know, it... just... so fast, it startled me."

She chuckled as their eyes met and a soft smile grew on his face before he turned back to the curving road, high grass and dandelion fluff blowing in the brisk summer air as they passed. Alternating between watching him and staring out the window, she let the calm settle over her, the blurring blue of the sky, the soft tapping of his fingers against the wheel adding to the feeling of warmth she felt growing. Normally she'd be annoyed at taking a longer route than necessary - turning off onto backroads, drifting through New York and Pennsylvania when they could circumvent both - but this felt... _nice. _

She turned, planning to tell him as much but was stopped as a small rumble echoed through the space between them. Glancing over her shoulder into the truck bed, she checked to make sure the few contents it contained were still there.

They were.

So what was... there it was _again_. She scanned the road behind them and, finding nothing that would have caused such a noise, sat back down, eyebrows knitting in concentration as tried to figure out-

"Booth, was that your stomach?"

Shrugging, he flipped on his turn signal, pulling off into the open field. "I've been starving for the past hour."

"Why'd you stop? We can find a restaurant or order something whenever we stop for the night."

"Didn't you hear what I just said? Starving. Past hour. C'mon." He opened the door and slid off the seat.

"But..." Shaking her head she unbuckled her seatbelt and got out, hurrying to meet him at the back of the truck. "We're going to eat here? In the middle of nowhere?"

"Yeah." He flipped the gate of the truck down and climbed up, offering her his hand as he stood. "Climb on in."

"This is nuts. What could we possibly have to eat that's substantial enough to constitute-"

"Oh, let's see, someone insisted that Parker would want pasta salad so there's that and..." He opened the cooler and began rummaging through it. "Caesar salad wraps, chicken cutlets, one of those veggie sandwich things you like..."

"A Caponata sandwich."

"Yeah, that. Part of an Italian hoagie, watermelon..."

She felt laughter bubbling up as she moved their overnight bag and lowered herself to the warm metal of the bed. "Ok, ok, I'll have the sandwich and some of the pasta salad."

"That's more like it." He passed her the requested items plus a beer, dug out some chicken for himself, and settled next to her. They ate in relative peace, their legs brushing against one another as they reached between them to hook a piece of pasta on their forks. Finishing her sandwich, Brennan scooted back, watching the clouds drift lazily through the sky as Booth started his third piece of chicken.

"That one looks like a _Bombus terrestris_."

"Hmm?" He pushed back so that he too was resting against the wall.

"That cloud looks like a bee."

"Oh." He squinted, chewing the last bite of his dinner as he attempted to see what she did.

"It's been..." She took a deep breath, arm wrapping around his waist as her head fell to his shoulder. "It's been so long since I've done this."

His jaw clenched, hand tightened around his beer, as he was once more reminded of the pain in both their pasts. "Well..." He took a pull from his cold beer, mouth lifting as she reflected the motion before resting against him once more. "No better time to start again."

"There's really not." Her lips pressed to the spot behind his ear as his arm fell over her shoulders, pulling her even closer. "Maybe..." She crossed her legs, turning her gaze to the horizon while his fingers traced circles down her arm. "Maybe we should stay, watch the sunset."

His hand stilled and then pressed hard into her skin, his mouth covering hers for a moment before he slid down the wall, pulling her with him so that they were lying flat on their backs, gazing up at the sky. "Sounds like a fantastic idea to me... until then we can just lay here-"

"And unwind; sounds perfect. Then..." She turned her body into his, hips pressing together. "We can stop for the night at the nearest _nice _hotel."

Laughing lowly, he nodded. "Got it, no motels or roadhouses tonight."


End file.
